How Effective is Reading on the Human Brain?

9437b9cf963dbdeb50eff506d9b63b3f (2)(link here for better quality picture) photo (1)(here)

Growing up, I was never really that kid that read for fun or would go out of my way to read a new story (unless it was being read to me.) Throughout high school, I still was never really that kind of student…”a book worm.” Don’t get me wrong, if I ever came across a good book that kept me hooked, I would certainly read it. However, I never developed that feeling of excitement or curiosity as to “what book should I read next!?” I have a friend, very intelligent friend at that, who LOVES to read. Book after book, she was always reading something new. She describes books as her “escape.” I began to wonder whether her intelligence had developed over the years in high school while she sped through piles and piles of novels.

During the rare occurrences I did read a book, I felt super accomplished and felt like I was doing something productive with my free time. It is truly an awesome feeling. I wondered, “if I did this all the time, would I become an all-around more intellectual, aware and curious person?”

Books expose readers to SO many different outlets. Not only do they improve reading skills (obviously) but it can reinforce so many more creative thinking methods or advanced vocabulary skills. Essentially, it’s an easy way to just learn more. So, I decided to do some research and find out the benefit of being a bookworm.

Similar to staying physically fit and having some sort of work out regiment, the brain necessitates exercise as well. According to a study done by Stanford University, they found that reading is what effectively keeps the brain at a pristine, stimulated health. The study was quite interesting, actually. With two groups of people, both of which were experimental groups, they were required to read Mansfield’s Park by Jane Austen. One group was asked to read it for pure enjoyment (even though I find Jane Austen to be terribly boring) while the other group was asked to critically analyze the story. Both groups were monitored using an MRI machine and the minute they began to read, the MRI mapping showed stimulation to the brain and even blood flow to parts of the brain that had not been currently in use before reading the book. This experiment is clearly relatively straight forward and I don’t see how there could be any interference with the results.

According to Examined Existence, there are a number of things that reading does specifically that is beneficial to the human brain:

  • enhances vocabulary (as I mentioned before)
  • improves communication skills
  • better developed analytical skills
  • effective memory booster

As far as the enhanced vocabulary and communication skills go, they virtually go hand-in-hand because the more you’re reading, obviously the more words you are exposed to. Eventually, you are able to understand the words in context or you may feel compelled to look them up. This comes naturally thus enabling you to better frame yourself in a conversation or in writing solely because of the plethora of words and writing mechanics you’re exposed to in stories.

Maybe to better persuade you as to how important and effective reading is, here are a few very prominent people in today’s society who are/were avid readers:

  • Steve Jobs: “passionate reader of William Blake’s literary pieces.” (Examined Science)
  • Phil Knight (founder of Nike): owns his own library
  • Sidney Harman (Harman Industries): “poets are the original system thinkers” (Examined Science)

In testing the efficacy of reading, I suppose someone could gather randomized groups of people equally allocated, different genders, races, religions or geographic background, and assign a relatively advanced intellectual novel to one group whereas the other group would read an intermediate, shorter, easier story. Similar to the study done by Standford, you could monitor the people through an MRI machine and determine which group has more brain stimulation.

Additionally, you could survey large groups of people and ask questions about their GPA, advanced class placements or what they like to do for fun based on the whether or not they consider themselves an avid reader.

I understand there are many interfering, confounding variables with this topic (as there are with many scientific experiments.) At times, children are born into families where reading is heavily encouraged or enforced or their intelligence may be inherited through genes. Perhaps someone may consider themselves an avid reader but what kind of books are they reading? Are they only reading fantasy, mystery novels? If so, that may not expose your brain to the myriad of genres that books have to offer. In order to take full advantage of book’s efficacy, the brain requires a variation in reading that contain different styles and different information. Just as the human body requires different types of food, vitamins and nutrients, the human brain requires different forms of exercise through reading. You can’t just go your entire life only eating chocolate chip ice cream or only reading the Harry Potter series forever. Branch out and expand your scope of knowledge by exposing your mind to books you wouldn’t normally read.

There is always something to be learned in ANY type of book.

518+D8lNDlL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Here is a picture of one of my favorite books. Considering it is a non-ficition biography, there are obviously lots of things to be learned (mostly concentrated on Kurt Cobain.)

Sources:

http://examinedexistence.com/does-reading-make-you-smarter/

http://examinedexistence.com/21-things-you-can-do-to-work-out-your-brain/

http://examinedexistence.com/why-reading-literary-fiction-is-good-for-you/

http://dosomethingcool.net/avid-reader/